A resistance change element has been proposed as a memory cell of a new nonvolatile semiconductor memory device. A variable resistance film can be switched to at least two resistance states having relatively different resistances by controlling the magnitude, polarity, and application time of the voltage applied to the variable resistance film, etc.
For example, an ion-movement type resistance change element has been proposed in which the resistance is changed by causing metal ions and/or oxygen ions inside the variable resistance film to move by an applied voltage.